Bokuboy Lots more with 4,240 words.
The next week was only slightly odd for me as Ming made the rounds to talk to people and passed around her essay. I was still getting angry looks from some people and ignored by others, including the guys in the class. That was fine, because I still had Izuku as my best friend and that was all I really needed. I had hoped that high school would be different from the other schools I had attended and didn't let my disappointment show. I guess people were people, no matter where you went.
The Hero Course teamwork pairings in the afternoon classes were also odd, because I was almost always paired with Ming, Saida, or Helen. I didn't want to ignore Red Fury's advice or prompting, so I talked to Helen as if she was already my friend and we just didn't know much about each other. The ploy worked and she pretty much opened up and told me everything about herself.
I had already known about her quirk, Dust Manipulation, and both Izuku and I had made several observations previously that helped her explore her powers a little more. There was just one problem that I had with her. She was always covered in a microscopic layer of dust. I couldn't touch her without taking some of it with me or breaking the integrity of that dust layer.
It almost made me laugh when I understood why Red Fury was okay with me trying to date another girl and had recommended Helen, because she had accurately guessed that I wouldn't want to touch the girl more than a couple of times before I realized I was messing up the girl's quirk usage. Once I figured that out, I approached Helen when lunch was almost over and took her to a nearby empty classroom before I told her about what I had discovered about her quirk.
Helen had gasped and put her hand over her mouth. “I'm so sorry!”
I laughed and she looked surprised. “What are you sorry for? That your quirk allows you to always have dust nearby to manipulate? It's not really a conscious decision on your part, is it?”
“Well... no, but...” Helen started to say.
“I was going to suggest you walk around and keep gathering up dust from anywhere you can. You can even get the support students to modify your hero costume to have tiny little pockets all over it and store the dust you gather inside of them. Even if your costume gets damaged, you'll have hundreds of other pockets to compress the dust into.”
Helen gave me a wide-eyed look. “You... you're turned off by my quirk because I'm always dirty and you're still helping me?”
“Turned off by it?” I asked and she nodded. “No, that's not my problem at all.”
“Then what is it? I've been kind of obvious that I like you all week.” Helen said, a little indignantly.
I chuckled. “Me touching you disrupts your quirk usage a little because it changes the microscopic layer over your skin and it takes you a little while to fix it subconsciously. I suspect Red Fury paired us up because she thought you would be safe for me to be around after the massive break up I had with Ming last week.”
Helen blinked her eyes at me for several moments. “I'm considered safe?”
“In comparison to...” I stopped talking when she glared at me. “We're friends, so I was speaking a little bluntly. I'm sorry if you didn't want to hear that.”
“I'll show you safe.” Helen almost growled as she dropped to her knees and a cloud of dust tore open the zipper of my pants and ripped apart the front of my underwear. She had her mouth on me and started to suck for all she was worth. I responded appropriately by growing for her almost instantly. She slowed down her movements and looked up at my face, surprised.
I couldn't help but comment. “You look very sexy taking control.”
Helen blushed and closed her eyes to concentrate on getting me off. It didn't take long for me to finish, not with her enthusiastically trying to prove that she wasn't safe to be around. She surprised the hell out of me when she didn't stop sucking on me and swallowed it all. When she thought I was done, she slid her mouth off of me with a satisfied look on her face and stood.
“How was that for safe?” Helen asked, smugly.
“I like you, too.” I said and she nodded. “I don't really want a steady girlfriend, though.”
“I know. After being with Ming for a month, I bet you're exhausted after all the things you did together.”
“Excuse me?” I asked, curious.
“Ming's been telling everyone what the two of you have been up to all over the school while you dated.” Helen said. “I didn't realize you were that kinky to hide under the desk to lick her out in the library.”
It was my turn to blink my eyes at hearing that. We hadn't done anything except study in the library, even when we were alone. “She told you that, did she?”
Helen nodded. “I've been... um... thinking about it ever since.”
“Just thinking?” I asked, quite pointedly.
Helen blushed. “Well, I... ah... might have...” She mumbled something and my excellent hearing caught it, so I smiled.
“I didn't realize that you were that kind of a dirty girl.” I said and her blush intensified. “Do you want me to do it now or wait until we can sneak off to the library later?”
“W-w-wait, you... you really want to...” Helen stopped talking when I nodded. “What about my dust?”
“It's only on the outside layer of your skin.” I said with a crooked smile.
Helen looked at her watch and then smiled. “We have twenty minutes before afternoon class.”
“Give me a few seconds to change and I'll escort you to the library and we can study.” I said and she started to nod. I took off, grabbed my spare uniform pants from my locker, and was back wearing them when her nod finished. “Ready to go?”
Helen looked down at my changed pants and back at my face, shocked.
“No, my speed doesn't transfer over into those kinds of activities... unless you want it to.” I said suggestively and she bit her bottom lip.
“M-maybe.” Helen whispered.
I took her hand and we left the classroom to head to the library. Needless to say, her wearing a skirt was beneficial for what we did for the next twenty minutes. Helen had to bite into a rolled up piece of paper to stop screaming her pleasure as I went to town on her, using my tongue to give her more pleasure than she had ever thought possible. That is, if her muttering afterwards could be considered the truth. She didn't really have a lot of experience to pull from, considering she only had one boyfriend before.
When we showed up at Hero Class wearing our track suits, Helen couldn't keep the happy grin off of her face. Red Fury saw this and paired me up with Saida as she called out the other random pairings. Of course, this left Helen free to quickly tell everyone that we had 'visited the library' for the last twenty minutes and that it was even better than Ming had told them it was.
I couldn't help but feel a little smug at the appraising looks the other girls were giving me, even if they had sided with Ming and stuck with her even after finding out the truth. Saida came over to me when the teacher finished assigning the tasks we were to do that day, Civilian Rescues.
“Is it true?” Saida asked in a whisper.
“Yes, we will be rescuing a real dummy analog for a trapped casualty.” I said with a straight face.
Saida frowned at me. “You know what I meant.”
I gave her a crooked smile. “Ming has quite the imagination, doesn't she?” I asked and saw her face pale a little. “I never knew that we had gotten up to all of the antics she's told everyone about.”
Saida turned away slightly and wouldn't look at me.
“I mean, I thought the only things Ming and I did together was make out between classes and I rubbed her feet several times. Maybe she has a secret that her quirk can burn away memories? We sure did do a lot that I can't remember.”
“All right, people. First team of Ming and Lino, you're up!” Red Fury said. “Show me what you can do!”
Ming gave me a quick glare and then she and her temporary partner ran over to a single level home to rescue someone from inside. No one knew the conditions before each task or who would be doing what. It was the perfect training for the real world situations, because you never knew the conditions going in then, either.
“I'm sorry, Connor.” Saida whispered. “She thought no one would want to come near you if they thought you would take advantage of them like Ming said you did to her.”
I shook my head. “I didn't realize how short-sighted she was.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” Saida asked.
“When I found out what Ming has been telling everyone, the very first thing Helen wanted to try was the library.” I said and Saida's mouth dropped open. “No, we're not dating. I told her I wasn't looking for a girlfriend, not after mine and Ming's recent break-up.”
“You... you're not dating... and you still...” Saida went quiet as she considered the implications.
“We're just friends.” I said and didn't look at her for the rest of the other teams performances. When it was our turn, there was a car that was partially covered by part of a large concrete piece of a bridge, with a railing, pavement, and rebar sticking out of it. It also looked about ready to crush the car and the occupants.
“Connor and Saida! You're up!” Red Fury said and gave me a very pointed look. “There's a reason I saved your for last. Your strength and speed are not going to be pivotal here.”
“I know.” I said and her eyes widened. “I already figured it out.”
“Show me.” Red Fury said and waved at the scenario.
I turned to Saida. “May I carry you?”
Saida nodded and I scooped her up into a princess carry. “EEP!” She squeaked out and put her arms around my neck.
I chuckled and then braced before taking off at a safe run for carrying passengers. We were at the scene in only a moment and I stood her up beside the front driver's side door of the car. Just then, the support cables holding the bridge piece up started to slacken. I had guessed correctly that as we approached, they would ease off and let the concrete bridge to slowly crush the car.
I didn't grab the concrete or the rebar directly, though. It was cracked and crumbling, which meant the integrity couldn't be relied upon. “Can you fit inside the broken window?” I asked as I carefully moved onto the hood of the car and braced my shoulders and back against the strongest part to hold it at bay.
“I think so.” Saida said. “What's the plan?”
“I can't shift all this weight at once, because it's going to break apart if I do. You need to get inside the car and do what I'm doing here. Tell me just before you do your breathing exercise to expand you lungs, then hold your breath for as long as you can.”
Saida gave me a surprised look. “You... you want me to...”
“...act as a support inside the car to stop it from being completely crushed when this thing breaks apart.” I said and thumbed over my shoulder at the bridge piece.
“Connor, I... this is...”
“Extremely dangerous.” I said and she nodded. “You can forfeit right now or tell me another plan that will guarantee the people's safety inside.”
Saida looked conflicted. “Connor, I... I don't like small spaces.”
“Ah. I get it.” I said and waved Red Fury over. “Saida has claustrophobia. She mentally can't do what is needed to pass this part of the test.”
Red Fury thought about that. “It's not unheard of for people to have fears that affect them for years.” She looked at Saida. “I assume you had something bad happen when you were younger?”
Saida nodded and didn't say anything.
Red Fury reached out and put her arm over the girl's shoulders. “It's all right. It's not your fault. If I had known, I would have paired you with Bosco to deal with the fire.”
Saida looked surprised. “But... I thought...”
Red Fury chuckled. “We're not here to torture students, Saida. We're here to teach you how to deal with the things you're going to face in the real world. You would have had to inform your Hero Agency of any fears or dangers you won't be willing to face. It's how they decide who to send on certain jobs.”
“Oh. Okay. That makes sense.” Saida said and looked at me. “I'm sorry, Connor.”
I chuckled. “You couldn't have told me sorry before I had a few tons of concrete resting on my back?”
“OH!” Saida gasped and looked at the large piece of bridge still braced by my back. “I'm so sorry!”
I chuckled again. “I was joking, Saida. I could stand like this all day.” I motioned to my properly positioned legs and the angle the bridge was at. “It's when I try to shift the weight to remove it that the car and its occupants are in danger.”
Saida took a deep breath and let it out. “You're too good of a person, Connor.”
“Not according to some.” I said without looking at Ming or the other guys in the class.
“It doesn't matter what they think.” Saida said and gave an odd look to Ming, then she stepped up onto the hood of the car where I was and gave me a kiss for several seconds. She even added a little tongue.
I stared at her when she broke the kiss and she had a satisfied look on her face. “Saida”
“You can pick me up tonight after your extra lessons.” Saida said and hopped down off of the car. “I like long walks on the beach and lots of ice cream, so plan accordingly.”
My mouth dropped open at her literally telling me what to do for the date and how to handle her.
Red Fury barked a laugh and waved Saida to go back with the other students. “It seems someone has decided your 'no girlfriend' policy is okay with her.”
“Yeah, I think it's weird, too.” I said and she laughed again.
“I'll be your unexpected partner this time. My quirk lets me expand my muscles and increase my strength and toughness to superhuman levels. I also grow a foot taller.” Red Fury explained as if we had just met.
“Really? That's great!” I exclaimed. “I need you to climb into the car and expand to your full height in order to brace yourself against the ceiling. When this weight shifts as I try to remove it, the car is going to be partially crushed and I don't want the occupants hurt.”
Red Fury thought about that. “What about the gas tank?”
“Crushing it shouldn't cause a spark to ignite any fumes. If it does, the flames can't really go anywhere and will be snuffed out when I shift the weight in that direction.”
Red Fury smiled. “You really did figure it out.”
“You taught me a lot more than just fighting techniques.” I said and she looked a little proud. “Situational awareness without having to close my eyes to listen has been a huge help.”
Red Fury nodded. “Can I remove the car's door?”
“As long as you don't alter the car's integrity.” I looked down at the hood. “If any of this buckles...”
Red Fury nodded again. She knew she couldn't just rip off the door like she normally would. Her words about Connor's strength not being a pivotal factor came back to her and she chuckled.
“Neither of us can just tear through things to get what we want done.” Red Fury said with a smirk.
I laughed. “How much easier would life be if we could?”
“It would be boring, too.” Red Fury said and walked over to the car's door. “It's only slightly crumpled. I can at least pull it open without damaging anything.”
I nodded and she put a hand on the car's roof and then dug her hand into the door by the handle to crush the locking mechanism.
“You can't normally do that with a car, because it's excessive damage. Some circumstances allow for that.” Red Fury said and slowly pulled. There was the sound of grinding metal for a second and then a pop as the door opened. The metal groaned as she opened it enough to get inside, only to see the driver was not in the driver's seat. “There's a child seat in the back.”
I knew that, because I had already seen it. That was why I had only said to get inside and to brace for me shifting the bridge piece off of the car instead of telling my partner to only get the occupants out.
“There's plenty of room for you to fit inside. Go ahead and get ready for when I move.” I said and Red Fury climbed inside the car. When she was in position, she activated her quirk and grew a foot in height and her muscles expanded to her large form. She had essentially made herself a roof under the car's roof.
“I've got it.” Red Fury said and prepared to feel a lot of weight fall on top of herself.
“Okay, here goes.” I said and shifted my right foot forward and my left backwards slightly, then I put my arms back against the concrete to make as large of a surface area as possible. I also used my telekinesis to form a barrier on the underside to try and hold the thing together. It was a cheat that let me carry large things without them breaking apart under their own weight or having my hands sink into things that shouldn't survive being carried that way.
I started to stand up and the thing almost immediately started to crumble. “Dammit!” I shouted and pulled my arms forward, then slammed them backwards as hard as I could “RAAHHH!” I yelled as my barrier dropped and I smashed my elbows and arms into the bridge piece.
Concrete, metal, and rebar flew away from where I was and I turned to tackle the large chunk that was collapsing onto the car. Luckily, I was very fast and I took the majority of it with me as I landed on the trunk of the car. It came out to be the same result as if my original plan to shift the weight had worked, except that a lot of the concrete still managed to impact the top of the car and dented it.
I stood up and started to swipe the concrete and metal away from the roof of the car to get the pressure off of Red Fury, whom I saw struggling with it. If it was that much weight in a dead lift or even a squat, she would have handled it easily. Carrying it while essentially doing a modified push up inside of a car, made it that much more stressful and difficult.
When I had enough of the debris out of the way, I reached down and grabbed the corner of the car's roof, then pulled and peeled it back like a banana peel. Everyone was surprised by that show of strength, even after seeing me literally pulverize a large piece of broken bridge. They didn't hear the sigh of pained relief from Red Fury, though.
I stepped down into the interior of the car and helped her sit up. “Great work, Red Fury.”
“I couldn't... have done it... without your help.” Red Fury said between breaths.
“Sit there and relax while I check the civilians.” I said and did so. The 'mother' and 'baby' were still intact and neither of them had any damage. “They're just passed out.” I said and took out my phone to pretend to call emergency services. “They're on their way.”
A collective cheer came from the class and I fought to not laugh as I put the phone away.
Red Fury nodded to me and took several deep breaths. “I see now why you wanted Saida to do this.”
I had to smile. “Yes, when she changes to her hardened form, she's not using her muscles. There's no lactic acid build-up and no struggling... well, except to keep holding her breath.”
“The techniques you told her to research have really let her expand her ability.” Red Fury said and stood up. She was a little shaky and sat back down.
“Easy, there. I said to sit and relax.” I admonished her and she glared at me. “No, I'm still not looking at you as a damsel in distress. I'm seeing an exhausted hero that did an exercise she never thought she would have to do in her life.”
Red Fury huffed and then laughed. “I'll give you that.”
I sat down beside her. “I hope you're not thinking of changing your own training to include that.”
“Oh? Why not?” Red Fury asked.
“It's limited in effectiveness.” I said and she raised her eyebrows. “The only way to change that is to alter your physical response to exertion. No matter how much you practice, your arms and legs will still get tired when using them in such an odd way. The situations where you would have to do anything like that are so few that there are a few other things that could have been done instead.”
“Really.” Red Fury gave me a calculating look. “Why don't you tell me what could have been done differently.”
“It depends on the surrounding environment.” I said and she looked surprised. “If we were actually on a bridge, I could have swooped in and taken the whole car out of the way, rather than bring someone with me. If I wasn't worried about collateral damage, I would have swung through and demolished everything around the car before the piece started to fall and would ignore where the debris fell. I could also have taken your place and let the bridge fall on me to wait for rescue.”
Red Fury stared at me like I was crazy.
“What? The heroes would fight harder to get me out than just a normal person.” I said with a smile.
Red Fury snorted a laugh. “You think you're more important than a civilian?”
“As someone who will probably save hundreds of people during their career, I am not bragging that my services might be more important than a civilian's.” I said and she whacked my arm. “Ow.”
“Don't get a big head just because you have powers.” Red Fury spat at me, then her hand rubbed the spot on my arm. “Some of us remember what it was like to not have powers when we were kids.”
“You were a late bloomer like myself and Izuku?” I asked and she nodded.
“Well, you turned out great.” I said with a grin and she smacked my arm again. “Ow! Stop that!”
“Stop joking around.” Red Fury said and then she stood. She let her muscular form fade and she reduced down to her normal six foot tall form. “Come on, we need to go over to the other students and I'll assess your performance after I review the footage.”
“Okay. You take the baby and I'll take the mother.” I said and handed her the sack of flour while I picked up the jointed crash test dummy in a princess carry.
“Ass.” Red Fury said with a shake of her head and carried the bag of flour back over to the others.
Izuku had a grin on his face that was almost as big as when Mei had given him his first blowjob. “You did great, Connor!”
I couldn't really say anything that wouldn't make me sound like the ass that Red Fury just accused me of being, so I just nodded. Izuku laughed and clapped me on the back before pointing to the side where I could lay the crash test dummy down.
After Red Fury checked the footage and saw my reactions, she gave me the highest marks and the biggest praise for how I handled the deteriorating situation and for keeping his partner, her, from suffering for too long. She also commented on how I still ensured the safety of the occupants by making sure the back of the car was covered in debris.
By the time we all left the class, a few of the guys were actually talking to me again and I was feeling pretty good about everything. There was nothing like living through a potential life-threatening situation to make people see what was important in their lives.
Bokuboy Lots more with 4,240 words.
The next week was only slightly odd for me as Ming made the rounds to talk to people and passed around her essay. I was still getting angry looks from some people and ignored by others, including the guys in the class. That was fine, because I still had Izuku as my best friend and that was all I really needed. I had hoped that high school would be different from the other schools I had attended and didn't let my disappointment show. I guess people were people, no matter where you went.
The Hero Course teamwork pairings in the afternoon classes were also odd, because I was almost always paired with Ming, Saida, or Helen. I didn't want to ignore Red Fury's advice or prompting, so I talked to Helen as if she was already my friend and we just didn't know much about each other. The ploy worked and she pretty much opened up and told me everything about herself.
I had already known about her quirk, Dust Manipulation, and both Izuku and I had made several observations previously that helped her explore her powers a little more. There was just one problem that I had with her. She was always covered in a microscopic layer of dust. I couldn't touch her without taking some of it with me or breaking the integrity of that dust layer.
It almost made me laugh when I understood why Red Fury was okay with me trying to date another girl and had recommended Helen, because she had accurately guessed that I wouldn't want to touch the girl more than a couple of times before I realized I was messing up the girl's quirk usage. Once I figured that out, I approached Helen when lunch was almost over and took her to a nearby empty classroom before I told her about what I had discovered about her quirk.
Helen had gasped and put her hand over her mouth. “I'm so sorry!”
I laughed and she looked surprised. “What are you sorry for? That your quirk allows you to always have dust nearby to manipulate? It's not really a conscious decision on your part, is it?”
“Well... no, but...” Helen started to say.
“I was going to suggest you walk around and keep gathering up dust from anywhere you can. You can even get the support students to modify your hero costume to have tiny little pockets all over it and store the dust you gather inside of them. Even if your costume gets damaged, you'll have hundreds of other pockets to compress the dust into.”
Helen gave me a wide-eyed look. “You... you're turned off by my quirk because I'm always dirty and you're still helping me?”
“Turned off by it?” I asked and she nodded. “No, that's not my problem at all.”
“Then what is it? I've been kind of obvious that I like you all week.” Helen said, a little indignantly.
I chuckled. “Me touching you disrupts your quirk usage a little because it changes the microscopic layer over your skin and it takes you a little while to fix it subconsciously. I suspect Red Fury paired us up because she thought you would be safe for me to be around after the massive break up I had with Ming last week.”
Helen blinked her eyes at me for several moments. “I'm considered safe?”
“In comparison to...” I stopped talking when she glared at me. “We're friends, so I was speaking a little bluntly. I'm sorry if you didn't want to hear that.”
“I'll show you safe.” Helen almost growled as she dropped to her knees and a cloud of dust tore open the zipper of my pants and ripped apart the front of my underwear. She had her mouth on me and started to suck for all she was worth. I responded appropriately by growing for her almost instantly. She slowed down her movements and looked up at my face, surprised.
I couldn't help but comment. “You look very sexy taking control.”
Helen blushed and closed her eyes to concentrate on getting me off. It didn't take long for me to finish, not with her enthusiastically trying to prove that she wasn't safe to be around. She surprised the hell out of me when she didn't stop sucking on me and swallowed it all. When she thought I was done, she slid her mouth off of me with a satisfied look on her face and stood.
“How was that for safe?” Helen asked, smugly.
“I like you, too.” I said and she nodded. “I don't really want a steady girlfriend, though.”
“I know. After being with Ming for a month, I bet you're exhausted after all the things you did together.”
“Excuse me?” I asked, curious.
“Ming's been telling everyone what the two of you have been up to all over the school while you dated.” Helen said. “I didn't realize you were that kinky to hide under the desk to lick her out in the library.”
It was my turn to blink my eyes at hearing that. We hadn't done anything except study in the library, even when we were alone. “She told you that, did she?”
Helen nodded. “I've been... um... thinking about it ever since.”
“Just thinking?” I asked, quite pointedly.
Helen blushed. “Well, I... ah... might have...” She mumbled something and my excellent hearing caught it, so I smiled.
“I didn't realize that you were that kind of a dirty girl.” I said and her blush intensified. “Do you want me to do it now or wait until we can sneak off to the library later?”
“W-w-wait, you... you really want to...” Helen stopped talking when I nodded. “What about my dust?”
“It's only on the outside layer of your skin.” I said with a crooked smile.
Helen looked at her watch and then smiled. “We have twenty minutes before afternoon class.”
“Give me a few seconds to change and I'll escort you to the library and we can study.” I said and she started to nod. I took off, grabbed my spare uniform pants from my locker, and was back wearing them when her nod finished. “Ready to go?”
Helen looked down at my changed pants and back at my face, shocked.
“No, my speed doesn't transfer over into those kinds of activities... unless you want it to.” I said suggestively and she bit her bottom lip.
“M-maybe.” Helen whispered.
I took her hand and we left the classroom to head to the library. Needless to say, her wearing a skirt was beneficial for what we did for the next twenty minutes. Helen had to bite into a rolled up piece of paper to stop screaming her pleasure as I went to town on her, using my tongue to give her more pleasure than she had ever thought possible. That is, if her muttering afterwards could be considered the truth. She didn't really have a lot of experience to pull from, considering she only had one boyfriend before.
When we showed up at Hero Class wearing our track suits, Helen couldn't keep the happy grin off of her face. Red Fury saw this and paired me up with Saida as she called out the other random pairings. Of course, this left Helen free to quickly tell everyone that we had 'visited the library' for the last twenty minutes and that it was even better than Ming had told them it was.
I couldn't help but feel a little smug at the appraising looks the other girls were giving me, even if they had sided with Ming and stuck with her even after finding out the truth. Saida came over to me when the teacher finished assigning the tasks we were to do that day, Civilian Rescues.
“Is it true?” Saida asked in a whisper.
“Yes, we will be rescuing a real dummy analog for a trapped casualty.” I said with a straight face.
Saida frowned at me. “You know what I meant.”
I gave her a crooked smile. “Ming has quite the imagination, doesn't she?” I asked and saw her face pale a little. “I never knew that we had gotten up to all of the antics she's told everyone about.”
Saida turned away slightly and wouldn't look at me.
“I mean, I thought the only things Ming and I did together was make out between classes and I rubbed her feet several times. Maybe she has a secret that her quirk can burn away memories? We sure did do a lot that I can't remember.”
“All right, people. First team of Ming and Lino, you're up!” Red Fury said. “Show me what you can do!”
Ming gave me a quick glare and then she and her temporary partner ran over to a single level home to rescue someone from inside. No one knew the conditions before each task or who would be doing what. It was the perfect training for the real world situations, because you never knew the conditions going in then, either.
“I'm sorry, Connor.” Saida whispered. “She thought no one would want to come near you if they thought you would take advantage of them like Ming said you did to her.”
I shook my head. “I didn't realize how short-sighted she was.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” Saida asked.
“When I found out what Ming has been telling everyone, the very first thing Helen wanted to try was the library.” I said and Saida's mouth dropped open. “No, we're not dating. I told her I wasn't looking for a girlfriend, not after mine and Ming's recent break-up.”
“You... you're not dating... and you still...” Saida went quiet as she considered the implications.
“We're just friends.” I said and didn't look at her for the rest of the other teams performances. When it was our turn, there was a car that was partially covered by part of a large concrete piece of a bridge, with a railing, pavement, and rebar sticking out of it. It also looked about ready to crush the car and the occupants.
“Connor and Saida! You're up!” Red Fury said and gave me a very pointed look. “There's a reason I saved your for last. Your strength and speed are not going to be pivotal here.”
“I know.” I said and her eyes widened. “I already figured it out.”
“Show me.” Red Fury said and waved at the scenario.
I turned to Saida. “May I carry you?”
Saida nodded and I scooped her up into a princess carry. “EEP!” She squeaked out and put her arms around my neck.
I chuckled and then braced before taking off at a safe run for carrying passengers. We were at the scene in only a moment and I stood her up beside the front driver's side door of the car. Just then, the support cables holding the bridge piece up started to slacken. I had guessed correctly that as we approached, they would ease off and let the concrete bridge to slowly crush the car.
I didn't grab the concrete or the rebar directly, though. It was cracked and crumbling, which meant the integrity couldn't be relied upon. “Can you fit inside the broken window?” I asked as I carefully moved onto the hood of the car and braced my shoulders and back against the strongest part to hold it at bay.
“I think so.” Saida said. “What's the plan?”
“I can't shift all this weight at once, because it's going to break apart if I do. You need to get inside the car and do what I'm doing here. Tell me just before you do your breathing exercise to expand you lungs, then hold your breath for as long as you can.”
Saida gave me a surprised look. “You... you want me to...”
“...act as a support inside the car to stop it from being completely crushed when this thing breaks apart.” I said and thumbed over my shoulder at the bridge piece.
“Connor, I... this is...”
“Extremely dangerous.” I said and she nodded. “You can forfeit right now or tell me another plan that will guarantee the people's safety inside.”
Saida looked conflicted. “Connor, I... I don't like small spaces.”
“Ah. I get it.” I said and waved Red Fury over. “Saida has claustrophobia. She mentally can't do what is needed to pass this part of the test.”
Red Fury thought about that. “It's not unheard of for people to have fears that affect them for years.” She looked at Saida. “I assume you had something bad happen when you were younger?”
Saida nodded and didn't say anything.
Red Fury reached out and put her arm over the girl's shoulders. “It's all right. It's not your fault. If I had known, I would have paired you with Bosco to deal with the fire.”
Saida looked surprised. “But... I thought...”
Red Fury chuckled. “We're not here to torture students, Saida. We're here to teach you how to deal with the things you're going to face in the real world. You would have had to inform your Hero Agency of any fears or dangers you won't be willing to face. It's how they decide who to send on certain jobs.”
“Oh. Okay. That makes sense.” Saida said and looked at me. “I'm sorry, Connor.”
I chuckled. “You couldn't have told me sorry before I had a few tons of concrete resting on my back?”
“OH!” Saida gasped and looked at the large piece of bridge still braced by my back. “I'm so sorry!”
I chuckled again. “I was joking, Saida. I could stand like this all day.” I motioned to my properly positioned legs and the angle the bridge was at. “It's when I try to shift the weight to remove it that the car and its occupants are in danger.”
Saida took a deep breath and let it out. “You're too good of a person, Connor.”
“Not according to some.” I said without looking at Ming or the other guys in the class.
“It doesn't matter what they think.” Saida said and gave an odd look to Ming, then she stepped up onto the hood of the car where I was and gave me a kiss for several seconds. She even added a little tongue.
I stared at her when she broke the kiss and she had a satisfied look on her face. “Saida”
“You can pick me up tonight after your extra lessons.” Saida said and hopped down off of the car. “I like long walks on the beach and lots of ice cream, so plan accordingly.”
My mouth dropped open at her literally telling me what to do for the date and how to handle her.
Red Fury barked a laugh and waved Saida to go back with the other students. “It seems someone has decided your 'no girlfriend' policy is okay with her.”
“Yeah, I think it's weird, too.” I said and she laughed again.
“I'll be your unexpected partner this time. My quirk lets me expand my muscles and increase my strength and toughness to superhuman levels. I also grow a foot taller.” Red Fury explained as if we had just met.
“Really? That's great!” I exclaimed. “I need you to climb into the car and expand to your full height in order to brace yourself against the ceiling. When this weight shifts as I try to remove it, the car is going to be partially crushed and I don't want the occupants hurt.”
Red Fury thought about that. “What about the gas tank?”
“Crushing it shouldn't cause a spark to ignite any fumes. If it does, the flames can't really go anywhere and will be snuffed out when I shift the weight in that direction.”
Red Fury smiled. “You really did figure it out.”
“You taught me a lot more than just fighting techniques.” I said and she looked a little proud. “Situational awareness without having to close my eyes to listen has been a huge help.”
Red Fury nodded. “Can I remove the car's door?”
“As long as you don't alter the car's integrity.” I looked down at the hood. “If any of this buckles...”
Red Fury nodded again. She knew she couldn't just rip off the door like she normally would. Her words about Connor's strength not being a pivotal factor came back to her and she chuckled.
“Neither of us can just tear through things to get what we want done.” Red Fury said with a smirk.
I laughed. “How much easier would life be if we could?”
“It would be boring, too.” Red Fury said and walked over to the car's door. “It's only slightly crumpled. I can at least pull it open without damaging anything.”
I nodded and she put a hand on the car's roof and then dug her hand into the door by the handle to crush the locking mechanism.
“You can't normally do that with a car, because it's excessive damage. Some circumstances allow for that.” Red Fury said and slowly pulled. There was the sound of grinding metal for a second and then a pop as the door opened. The metal groaned as she opened it enough to get inside, only to see the driver was not in the driver's seat. “There's a child seat in the back.”
I knew that, because I had already seen it. That was why I had only said to get inside and to brace for me shifting the bridge piece off of the car instead of telling my partner to only get the occupants out.
“There's plenty of room for you to fit inside. Go ahead and get ready for when I move.” I said and Red Fury climbed inside the car. When she was in position, she activated her quirk and grew a foot in height and her muscles expanded to her large form. She had essentially made herself a roof under the car's roof.
“I've got it.” Red Fury said and prepared to feel a lot of weight fall on top of herself.
“Okay, here goes.” I said and shifted my right foot forward and my left backwards slightly, then I put my arms back against the concrete to make as large of a surface area as possible. I also used my telekinesis to form a barrier on the underside to try and hold the thing together. It was a cheat that let me carry large things without them breaking apart under their own weight or having my hands sink into things that shouldn't survive being carried that way.
I started to stand up and the thing almost immediately started to crumble. “Dammit!” I shouted and pulled my arms forward, then slammed them backwards as hard as I could “RAAHHH!” I yelled as my barrier dropped and I smashed my elbows and arms into the bridge piece.
Concrete, metal, and rebar flew away from where I was and I turned to tackle the large chunk that was collapsing onto the car. Luckily, I was very fast and I took the majority of it with me as I landed on the trunk of the car. It came out to be the same result as if my original plan to shift the weight had worked, except that a lot of the concrete still managed to impact the top of the car and dented it.
I stood up and started to swipe the concrete and metal away from the roof of the car to get the pressure off of Red Fury, whom I saw struggling with it. If it was that much weight in a dead lift or even a squat, she would have handled it easily. Carrying it while essentially doing a modified push up inside of a car, made it that much more stressful and difficult.
When I had enough of the debris out of the way, I reached down and grabbed the corner of the car's roof, then pulled and peeled it back like a banana peel. Everyone was surprised by that show of strength, even after seeing me literally pulverize a large piece of broken bridge. They didn't hear the sigh of pained relief from Red Fury, though.
I stepped down into the interior of the car and helped her sit up. “Great work, Red Fury.”
“I couldn't... have done it... without your help.” Red Fury said between breaths.
“Sit there and relax while I check the civilians.” I said and did so. The 'mother' and 'baby' were still intact and neither of them had any damage. “They're just passed out.” I said and took out my phone to pretend to call emergency services. “They're on their way.”
A collective cheer came from the class and I fought to not laugh as I put the phone away.
Red Fury nodded to me and took several deep breaths. “I see now why you wanted Saida to do this.”
I had to smile. “Yes, when she changes to her hardened form, she's not using her muscles. There's no lactic acid build-up and no struggling... well, except to keep holding her breath.”
“The techniques you told her to research have really let her expand her ability.” Red Fury said and stood up. She was a little shaky and sat back down.
“Easy, there. I said to sit and relax.” I admonished her and she glared at me. “No, I'm still not looking at you as a damsel in distress. I'm seeing an exhausted hero that did an exercise she never thought she would have to do in her life.”
Red Fury huffed and then laughed. “I'll give you that.”
I sat down beside her. “I hope you're not thinking of changing your own training to include that.”
“Oh? Why not?” Red Fury asked.
“It's limited in effectiveness.” I said and she raised her eyebrows. “The only way to change that is to alter your physical response to exertion. No matter how much you practice, your arms and legs will still get tired when using them in such an odd way. The situations where you would have to do anything like that are so few that there are a few other things that could have been done instead.”
“Really.” Red Fury gave me a calculating look. “Why don't you tell me what could have been done differently.”
“It depends on the surrounding environment.” I said and she looked surprised. “If we were actually on a bridge, I could have swooped in and taken the whole car out of the way, rather than bring someone with me. If I wasn't worried about collateral damage, I would have swung through and demolished everything around the car before the piece started to fall and would ignore where the debris fell. I could also have taken your place and let the bridge fall on me to wait for rescue.”
Red Fury stared at me like I was crazy.
“What? The heroes would fight harder to get me out than just a normal person.” I said with a smile.
Red Fury snorted a laugh. “You think you're more important than a civilian?”
“As someone who will probably save hundreds of people during their career, I am not bragging that my services might be more important than a civilian's.” I said and she whacked my arm. “Ow.”
“Don't get a big head just because you have powers.” Red Fury spat at me, then her hand rubbed the spot on my arm. “Some of us remember what it was like to not have powers when we were kids.”
“You were a late bloomer like myself and Izuku?” I asked and she nodded.
“Well, you turned out great.” I said with a grin and she smacked my arm again. “Ow! Stop that!”
“Stop joking around.” Red Fury said and then she stood. She let her muscular form fade and she reduced down to her normal six foot tall form. “Come on, we need to go over to the other students and I'll assess your performance after I review the footage.”
“Okay. You take the baby and I'll take the mother.” I said and handed her the sack of flour while I picked up the jointed crash test dummy in a princess carry.
“Ass.” Red Fury said with a shake of her head and carried the bag of flour back over to the others.
Izuku had a grin on his face that was almost as big as when Mei had given him his first blowjob. “You did great, Connor!”
I couldn't really say anything that wouldn't make me sound like the ass that Red Fury just accused me of being, so I just nodded. Izuku laughed and clapped me on the back before pointing to the side where I could lay the crash test dummy down.
After Red Fury checked the footage and saw my reactions, she gave me the highest marks and the biggest praise for how I handled the deteriorating situation and for keeping his partner, her, from suffering for too long. She also commented on how I still ensured the safety of the occupants by making sure the back of the car was covered in debris.
By the time we all left the class, a few of the guys were actually talking to me again and I was feeling pretty good about everything. There was nothing like living through a potential life-threatening situation to make people see what was important in their lives.
